Already connected to 15 European capital cities, Billund Airport has greeted the first of four new routes to capitals on the continent. On Sunday 18 November, Wizz Air commenced a twice-weekly service from Vienna which will operate on Wednesdays and Sundays, growing to a four times weekly schedule for the start of next year’s summer season. The carrier will also begin services to Kiev in March, meaning that it will offer a total of nine routes from the airport in 2019. Along with Wizz Air’s commitment to Billund, Europe’s largest low-cost carrier (LCC), Ryanair, will add flights to Prague and Edinburgh in April next year, taking its route count from Billund to 15.
“It’s great for Billund, and indeed our catchment of Central and West Denmark, to have direct flights to the capitals of Austria, Ukraine, the Czech Republic and Scotland, proving that Billund Airport is going from strength-to-strength in establishing a well-developed network for its passengers,” comments Jan Hessellund, CEO, Billund Airport. “Collectively these destinations see 55,000 annual passengers having to take an indirect flight from Billund, so it is great that Wizz Air and Ryanair have added these routes to support the growing need for more direct services from the region.”
The latest route developments for Billund top off what has been a successful year for the airport. It has attracted services from two new airlines, with Widerøe having begun flights from Bergen, while LOT Polish Airlines became the Danish airport’s 11th hub operator, joining airBaltic (Riga), Air France (Paris CDG), British Airways (London Heathrow), Brussels Airlines (Brussels), Finnair (Helsinki), Icelandair (Reykjavik/Keflavik), KLM (Amsterdam), Lufthansa (Frankfurt), SAS (Copenhagen, Oslo Gardermoen and Stockholm Arlanda) and Turkish Airlines (Istanbul Atatürk). “For an airport which handles over three million passengers a year, to have these services highlights that Billund has one of the most varied airline customer portfolios of Europe’s leading regional gateways.”
The airport was also rewarded this year for its hard work in marketing to airlines, winning the Routes Europe marketing award in the ‘under 4 million’ passenger category at the annual event. “2018 has been another successful, award-winning year for Billund Airport, and I am confident that 2019 will prove to be just as successful,” adds Hessellund. “We look forward to continue working with Wizz Air, Ryanair, other existing and new carriers about further expanding Billund’s range of destinations and giving our passengers the best flight opportunities possible.”
